


Fire

by truth_renowned



Series: One-Word Prompts [44]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Peggy gets thinky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29030463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truth_renowned/pseuds/truth_renowned
Summary: The word ‘fire’ had many meanings, both in the physical and emotional space. Physical fires could be extinguished; emotional ones sometimes stayed for life.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Series: One-Word Prompts [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/727380
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Fire

Peggy stroked Daniel’s shower-damp hair, curly wisps tickling her fingers. They were on the couch, his head in her lap, eyes closed and lips slightly parted. His breathing had evened out minutes before, signaling his slumber. She could use a few winks herself but didn’t want to move for fear of waking him.

The first order of business when they’d arrived home included a long, hot shower. Both were covered in soot after hours of sifting through the fire that destroyed almost all evidence - including the charred remains of at least two bodies - of a HYDRA hideout. If anything, HYDRA knew how to cover its tracks, even if it meant sacrificing operatives. However, in this case, they had left behind a few breadcrumbs.

One of Daniel’s most trusted agents, a former fire marshal with experience in handling cases involving explosives, offered to transport the scant evidence and ‘face Rose’s wrath for tracking ash into the building’ to deliver everything to the lab. Agent Franklin’s gesture was the only reason she and Daniel were able to come home to clean up and get some downtime, even if just a few minutes together, with one of them asleep.

Ironically, once they’d showered and dressed in house clothes, Daniel suggested starting a fire in the fireplace. Peggy quashed the idea immediately despite it being chilly in the house. Even the pleasant smell of hickory logs couldn’t eradicate the acrid scent of who-knows-what chemicals lingering in her nose. Their clothes seemed a total loss until she spoke with Mr. Jarvis. His advice proved enlightening, and he even offered to pick up the clothes tomorrow. She didn’t doubt his laundering prowess, given how many chemical mistakes Howard made in his lab. 

Daniel turned his head toward her but didn’t wake. He could catch a cat nap anytime, anywhere. Living with him, she’d learned much about him besides his sleeping habits: she knew what kind of soap he used (Lifebuoy), how he made a bed (he didn’t), how he liked his toast (nearly burnt, slathered with orange marmalade). But the one thing she learned and enjoyed more than anything wasn’t something discovered within the house’s walls.

Watching Daniel in his role as chief filled her with pride. He had a presence of intelligence and authority, with a healthy mix of ‘calm under fire’ and self-deprecating humor, all indicative of a natural-born leader. And just as in New York, Daniel truly shined in the field. A fire inside him glowed brightly with every mission planned, every operation executed, every suspect brought to justice.

‘What is it with me and fire today?’ she thought with a breathy laugh. Spending all that time in the aftermath should have quelled the desire to even think about it. Yet it insisted on loitering in her head. The word ‘fire’ had many meanings, both in the physical and emotional space. Physical fires could be extinguished; emotional ones sometimes stayed for life.

Cliché as it sounded, many emotional fires burned within her for as long as she could remember. A fire for dreaming. A fire for learning. A fire for adventure. A fire for not settling for what others told her she should be. A fire to find her place in this world. 

That last one proved the toughest. She was put on this earth for a reason, several even, and one of which she found at Steve’s side. When he died, yet another fire lit in her gut: avenge his death. But with the war in the past and HYDRA smothered (or though she’d thought), she needed a new purpose. It sure as hell wasn’t getting coffee and lunch for a room full of boys pretending to be men. It took time, and too many deaths - Chief Dooley yelling at her flashed in her mind, and she smiled - for her to realize she had found her place in the SSR. She couldn’t avenge Steve’s death, or Chief Dooley’s, but she could make a difference, with all that fire still burning inside.

Since being in California, she felt something different, slowly burning, an ember to an inferno in less than two weeks. A fire she feared extinguished when Valkyrie went into the ice, taking her desire to open her heart with it. Daniel was so unassuming, never projected any romantic interest in her, though she’d heard - and not believed - the rumors. That is, not until he asked her out for a drink. Then it hit her: She wanted to have that drink. She wanted what could happen after that drink. For the first time in more than a year, she thought about a future with a man. One specific man. But he left before anything started.

When Jack sent her out to help Daniel, her second chance lay before her (or though she’d thought). That fire rekindled at first glance at him in the bullpen, but looking in his eyes, she didn’t see even a flicker.

She wanted to dislike his fiancée but couldn’t. Violet was a lovely girl, a sassy foil for Daniel. Someone he could settle down with, have children with, have some semblance of a normal life. More than she wanted Daniel, Peggy wanted Daniel to be happy. And at first glance, Violet made him happy.

Then the van. Ah yes, she thought with a smile. Of all places for them to address the elephant in the room… or vehicle, really. And of all people to see the elephant, Violet would have been Peggy’s last choice, mostly because she wouldn't have wished that pain on her. She didn’t deserve it. But Violet saw what Peggy and Daniel refused to see: an emotional connection that spanned more than 3,000 miles. A connection that couldn’t be denied any longer.

Neither one knew how to approach their feelings. To say they were awkward toward one another was an understatement. The stepping and dodging they performed felt like two teenagers at their first dance, but instead of stepping on each other’s toes, they kept more than arm’s length between them until what should have been her final day in Los Angeles.

She hadn’t meant to kiss him. It just… happened. The way he spoke to her, antagonizing and smug, angered her yet also set her emotions ablaze. Who knew his playful verbal jabs were a turn-on? She knew now, all too well.

Daniel shifted in her lap, long lashes fluttering before his eyes opened. He met her gaze and smiled. 

“How long was I out?” he asked, voice groggy.

“Twenty minutes or so.” 

“We’d better get dressed and go,” he replied, sitting up. “You didn’t get any sleep?”

“No, just sitting here thinking.”

He nodded, grabbing his crutch. “What were you thinking about?”

She smiled. “How much I hate and love fire.”

His brow furrowed in question. Her answer was in the form of a kiss. A fiery one, of course.


End file.
